Marauding Through Hogwarts
by I'mAHufflepuffAndI'mProud
Summary: a series of one shots about the marauders and their time at Hogwarts, pretty strictly according to canon as of right now, but there will definitely be some Remus/Sirius because i cant not, i suck at descriptions, but yeah.
The full moon was barely cresting over the whomping willow as four figures stood in the astronomy tower. Hushed whispers and nervous glances were thrown between them as the tall, gangly boy in the center inhaled sharply.

"We need to go. Now" Sirius quipped in a hushed tone. Remus glanced at him with thankful eyes.

"Wait, look." James pointed to a quickly moving small figure on the ground below, heading from the direction of the whomping willow. The small creature was quick and agile and the other three boys strained their eyes to see its long tail and faintly striped fur.

"Professor McGonagall." Remus half sighed, as if concentrating overtly hard on something. "We have to wait until she's in the castle." He glanced to his friends out of the corner of his eyes and gave them all a sad smile. "You don't have to come. You could get hurt." His voice seemed genuine but the boys knew him well enough to read the pleading expression in his eyes. James scoffed, a bit louder than intended.

"Oh come on _Moony_." He laughed quietly, compensating for his own outburst. "We're in this together." James threw his arm around Remus's shoulder and leaned against him slightly, Sirius following suit on the other side of him. Peter threw his arm up over Sirius's and the four of them laughed gently. Peter pointed a rounded finger down to the ground where the small feline shadow shifted and grew into the regal, elegant, terrifying professor and entered the school through the massive castle gates.

"She's gone." He smiled. The three boys dropped their arms in perfect sync to one another.

"Last chance to back out." Remus smiled before suppressing a small groan and swallowing hard. James wrapped his arm around Remus's waist, supporting him under his arm and grinned.

"Actually, mate. I think that moment was about an hour and a half ago." He gave a nod to Sirius who threw a glance at Peter. Without a spoken word, the two boys left the tower and each peered down one end of the corridor.

"Clear out here." Peter yelled quietly, just loud enough to be heard by James and Remus. A moment later, they left the room and started down the small corridor to the steps. Again, Peter and Sirius went first and made sure there were no students in the corridor. It was far past curfew so they were fairly certain they wouldn't see anyone, but they could never risk someone asking the wrong questions about why Remus didn't look well or if he needed to go to the hospital wing.

The boys made it through the winding halls of the castle and out the gates before Remus had his first _Strike_ as they had taken to calling them. He gasped sharply and his legs buckled under his weight. As if waiting for it like a cue, Sirius joined James on Remus's other side and the two kept him moving. Remus squeezed his eyes shut and tried to take deep breaths but they were cut off by sharp gasps that sounded like pain, although Remus would never confirm nor deny whether it was pain or not. His breathing grew more and more shallow and, now in the safety of the shadows of the outside, Peter abandoned his job as lookout and flitted behind the boys, gently rubbing the back of Remus's head until his breathing evened.

"Almost there, Moony." Sirius said softly, eyeing the tunnel hidden in the trunk of the whomping willow. Remus nodded, strained, and took a slow breath. As they approached the tree, its branches began to shift and swing slowly, as it realized they were there.

James nodded for Peter to go ahead of them and Peter swallowed. This was his least favorite part of the night, mostly because it involved potentially getting beaten to death by a giant, temperamental tree. Peter held his hands above his head as if in surrender and slowly walked towards the willow. He walked sideways, heading away from the three boys and taking the attention of the tree with him. It twisted slightly following him and hesitantly reared back its branches as if it was unsure whether or not to strike. Peter glanced subtly to his friends and eyed them as they ducked inside the tunnel. Peter sighed quickly and then sucked in a breath. His job was only half over.

He began to inch to the side again, this time headed back the way he came. The tree, again followed him and its branches seemed to lower slightly as he grew closer. Slowly, Peter lowered his arms to his side and stared at the tree for a moment. He felt the magic and energy of the tree as it pulsed at him and he blinked curiously as if he wondered why he'd ever feared it in the first place. He took one confident step then paused, gauging the reaction of the Willow. It didn't make any move to strike him or harm him, it simply continued to stare. Peter lengthened his stride and swiftly ducked under the roots of the tree and dropped into the tunnel that would drop them in the abandoned hut just off school grounds. The tree shook slightly as if it shivered when Peter disappeared from sight, but otherwise, did not move.

Peter landed, a bit harshly, on the ground and glanced up to see Sirius reaching down to help him up. He smiled at his friend and took his hand graciously. Peter followed Sirius through the small doorway into the room where Remus and James stood, James's arm still securely around the waist of a pale looking Remus.

"Go." Remus said, lifting his arm off of James's shoulder and pushing James towards the others with the little strength he could muster. "You should go into the other room. I don't want to hurt you." Remus's eyes were pleading and nightmareish visions were flashing through his mind: images of his friends injured or dead because of him.

"We will." James smiled. "But first, we have something to show you." Remus cocked an eyebrow and stifled another gasp of unconfirmed pain.

"Really? Now?" he asked, somehow managing to have a tone of amusement. James rolled his eyes.

"Yes," Sirius took over. "We just thought you'd like to know that we're a bit more… uhm, resilient, than last month." He grinned. Peter and James were both beaming. Remus swallowed hard and pinched his eyes shut for a moment, trying to hold off the inevitable as long as possible. When he opened his eyes, he felt a small rush in his heart at the sight of his friends, smiling at him as they waited for the Strike to pass.

"Please, take your time with this explanation." Remus quipped. "I don't have anything going on tonight." He smiled slightly at the boys. James took a step forward.

"If you have to change every month, then we will too. I told you. We're in this together." Remus cocked an eyebrow again, a signature Remus Lupin expression lately, and the boys' smiles grew impossibly wider.

His eyes widened in shock and surprise as Sirius's form began to shrink and contort until a large black dog stood where his friend was a moment before. Remus stared at the dog hard for a moment, his own changing temporarily forgotten. Beneath the fur that covered most of the dog's face, Sirius's eyes shone out and Remus's breath caught in his throat.

He glanced to James and Peter, whose forms now began to change as well. James grew slightly and his shoulders broadened until he was on all fours and still chest high. Massive antlers grew from his head and within a moment, a magnificent stag stood in the small room.

Peter's form shrank and shrank until he touched the floor. A long, wiry tail grew behind him and several white whiskers sprouted from his elongating face as he shifted into a rat and scurried over to James. He easily climbed up the stag's leg and back and perched himself happily on his antlers.

Remus smiled a small, but inconceivably happy smile as his friends eyes stared back at him from their animal forms, all three of them still managing to be grinning. They all stood for a moment in silence while Remus took in the situation. However, it wasn't long before Remus exhaled forcefully and hunched his back over so he was resting his hands on his knees.

"Go." He instructed pointedly, making the boys believe the gasps were of pain. He glanced up to them through shaggy brown hair falling in his face and smiled faintly. His eyes yellowed as he spoke. "Thank you. And go." The three animals backed from the room quickly as Remus gasped and arched his back. They could see the beginnings of his transformation as his spine seemed to shift and grow. They filed into the first room, Sirius first and left Remus to change in private, as he asked. Peter wrapped his tail swiftly around a small chipped place in the door and pulled it gently closed behind them.

They could hear Remus groaning and they glanced at each other with the same expression their eyes usually held at this point: helplessness. The shack was quiet for a moment, then a loud cry from Remus erupted from behind the door and the three cringed at the sound of their friend in pain. After a second of the horrible sound, he stopped.

The sounds of the wind outside filtered into the shack for only a moment before another scream rang through. Sirius sat down and threw his head back, letting out a sharp howl, drowning out the sound of Remus's scream. After a moment, Remus's screaming stopped and they heard a very faint chuckle from the room before the sound of bone shifting followed by the sound of werewolf claws on hardwood flooring.


End file.
